- Ben Stokes’ home was raided and burgled by a masked gang earlier in October
- Jewellery and cherished possessions were taken from the England Test captain
The masked gang who raided Ben Stokes’ home may have reportedly planned the burglary by using a video tour of the house that the England Test captain starred in.
Stokes revealed on Wednesday evening that his house had been raided while his wife and two young children were there.
He was in Pakistan for England’s recent Test series at the time, with the incident taking place on Thursday, October 17 in Castle Eden in County Durham.
The 33-year-old explained how he had lost a number of ‘irreplaceable’ items including three necklaces, a Christian Dior bag, an engraved ring — and his OBE medal which he received in 2020.
Stokes said his family did not come to ‘any physical harm’ in the raid, but heartbreakingly added that it has had an impact on their ’emotional and mental state’.
And, in a new report from The Sun, it has been claimed the gang organised the robbery by using video footage of Stokes showing a cameraman around the mansion.
This was part of a 16-minute film that was released on an Indian streaming app.
The report went onto claim that the video – which was titled ‘Ben Stokes takes us on a tour of his house!’ – showed entry points to the building, including patio doors, while it also pointed out where various memorabilia from Stokes’ illustrious career were placed.
It was produced by 4C, a sports media firm, with a gold 4C pendant one of the items stolen.
The film, which is reportedly set to be used in the investigation, saw Stokes describing the various changes that had been made to the house.
‘We’ve had a lot of work done,’ he said. ‘We had it all redone.’
Stokes lives in the property with wife Clare, son Layton and daughter Libby, with the family having bought it for £1.7million in 2017.
The 33-year-old released a statement and photographs of the stolen items on Wednesday, saying his ‘sole motivation’ for making a public statement is to ‘catch the people who did this’.
The cricketer said: ‘On the evening of Thursday 17th October a number of masked people burgled my home in the Castle Eden area in the North East.
‘They escaped with jewellery, other valuables and a good deal of personal items. Many of those items have real sentimental value for me and my family. They are irreplaceable.
‘This is an appeal for any help in finding these people who carried out this act.
‘By far the worst thing about this crime is that it was carried out whilst my wife and two young children were in the house. Thankfully, none of my family came to any physical harm.
‘Understandably, however, the experience has had an impact on their emotional and mental state. All we can think about is how much worse this situation could have been.
‘I am releasing photographs of some of the stolen items – which I hope may be easily identified – in the hope that we can find the people who are responsible for this.
‘Although we have lost cherished possessions, to be clear, my sole motivation in sharing these photographs is not the recovery of material items. It is to catch the people who did this.
‘Please come forward and contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting crime reference CRI00575927 if you think that you have any relevant information.
‘Finally, I want to say thank you to the police service. Both now and whilst I was away in Pakistan, their support for my family has been outstanding. They continue to work incredibly hard in trying to find these people.’
The gang are also alleged to have stolen one of Stokes’ luxury cars.
Stokes had been criticised for his performances during the Pakistan Test series, which England lost 2-1, with the all-rounder failing to take a wicket and scoring just 53 runs across four innings.
Speaking after the series – and before news of the burglary was made public – England coach Brendon McCullum had backed Stokes to bounce back from the disappointing tour.
‘We all know how competitive and driven the skipper is,’ he said. ‘He’ll be hurting right now (and) it’s my job to make sure I’m there to support him.
‘Look, that injury was quite a significant injury. He had to work incredibly hard to get back. As the driven athlete he is, he’s all in when he does something.
‘He had to put in a lot of graft and subconsciously it can… not cloud things, but maybe you’re not quite as screwed down as you can be in terms of decision-making.
‘He’s disappointed but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough bugger. He’ll make sure he’ll come back and it’s our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way.’
